Curbside Colour mural mockup based on artwork by Jesse Campbell
Greater Victoria Placemaking Network’s Curbside Colour project is one of six community-led projects that has won funding through the City of Victoria’s 2021 Participatory Budget initiative. Projects that promote ‘Neighbourhood Spaces’ were screened by a volunteer Steering Committee and then put out for public voting. More than 1,300 people ranked the proposals.
“Curbside Colour is a demonstration project which will add bright, meaningful designs by Indigenous artists to two ‘traffic calming’ locations on Victoria streets,” notes GVPN Board Director and project lead Lorne Daniel. “By painting asphalt surfaces inside the posts where the City of Victoria has narrowed roadways or extended walking space, we will create joyful places for residents and visitors to pause. These street murals will incorporate native plants and design created by an Indigenous artist, here on the ancestral territories of the W̱SÁNEĆ, Esquimalt, Songhees Nations and Lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking Peoples.”
Indigenous artist Jesse Campbell (Métis, Saulteaux) helped develop the project, and submitted a design concept for use in the proposal. “I’m excited to see these street murals go ahead,” he said. Jesse Campbell was recently interviewed on CBC News and this radio segment headlined Curbside Colour murals to brighten pedestrian right of ways in Victoria.
Curbside Colour is intended to deepen our sense of place, stimulating conversation and connection. Two locations, including the intersection of Vancouver and Burdett Streets, will be transformed through this project, to demonstrate how this artistic transformation can be applied in dozens of similar situations across the city and region. The designs and the artists’ commentary about them will also be shared on victoriaplacemaking.ca and through social media. By making traffic calming installations attractive and interesting, we will increase awareness of alternate, constructive, uses of public rights-of-way. In future years, we will work with the City of Victoria, schools, and neighbourhood groups to promote their own Curbside Colour initiatives.
The project was featured as one of the Grant Winners for Neighbourhood Spaces on CTV news on December 14 at an event at City Hall, when the City of Victoria announced this year’s projects include a mural project, community hub, an artist billboard, live performances, and an outdoor movie night. “This is what empowering the community looks like in action,” said Mayor Lisa Helps in a media release. “I’m so proud of the volunteer Steering Committee – how they engaged our community first to come up with projects to improve neighbourhood spaces in Victoria and then how they organized voting, giving residents ultimate decision as to which projects were funded.”
Planning and design work for the Curbside Colour installations will occur over the next few months, with painting tentatively set for May 2022.
GVPN thanks all those who cast their vote for Participatory Budgeting Victoria.
Mayor Lisa Helps announced six Neighbour Spaces projects (image credit: City of Victoria)
GPVN Board Director Lorne Daniel, leading the Curbside Colour project (image credit: City of Victoria)
